Turkey decoy

ABSTRACT

A turkey decoy system includes first and second elastic strips fastened together. A turkey tail fan extends at least partially between the first and second elastic strips. The decoy system enables movement of the turkey tail fan between a lowered, unfanned position and a raised, fanned position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/932,469, filed Mar. 3, 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/600,944, filed Mar. 6, 2017, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to hunting decoys.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,231,737, turkey decoys have been produced in many forms and fall primarily under two categories: static decoys and motion decoys. The primary intent of both types of decoys is to attract a live turkey for observation or hunting purposes. Stationary or static decoys represent the general shape, size, color and feather pattern of a live turkey. These decoys are placed in an open area and used to attract a wild turkey, which may be passing by. These decoys are very basic and rely on the ability of a passing turkey to recognize the shape as a fellow turkey. Motion decoys are designed imitate the movements of a live turkey. The movements of the decoy are used to catch the attention of a passing turkey. The motions of the decoys are usually an attempt to mimic either one or more motions of a live turkey. The movement of these decoys is sometimes as simple as placing a static decoy on a pivot point which allows the wind to move the decoy side to side, or rock back and forth. The wind induced motion decoy is one of the simplest and most popular. U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,322 shows an example of wind-induced movements of a turkey decoy.

The motion of some decoys can be initiated by an operator with a manual pull string, push rod or electrical motor. The manual activation capability gives the operator the advantage of triggering the decoy's movement at an opportune time rather than relying on the randomness of the wind. Some motion decoys use a motorized device that produces random movement of the decoy. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,356. The use of random motorized movement does not consistently give a level of certainty needed to attract a live turkey. Such movement may occur when the live turkey is out of sight or they may occur too often when a turkey is close and frighten the turkey away. In addition, motorized movement of a turkey decoy is not legal in many hunting locations.

During the mating season the wild male turkey will display its tail feathers by spreading them into a semi-circular fan shape as part of the mating strut. The tail feathers begin in a prone or close to horizontal position behind the bird and then rise vertically while simultaneously spreading into a fan shape. This action is done to demonstrate the dominance of the male turkey and thus convince a female to mate with him. The female turkey is attracted to the sight of the male turkey's fantail. Because of their competitive nature it has also been observed that male turkeys will also be attracted to the fan tail display. The males will compete for a hen by trying to out strut their fellow turkeys and/or by sparing. The sight of a strutting male will excite and irritate a fellow male turkey. The male turkey then will engage the competitor and attempt to drive them off or try to out strut them. If a male turkey has already gathered a group of females it is very difficult to draw him away from their company. The sight of a competing male turkey that may steal his mates is one of the few things that will pull him away from his group of females.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,231,737 discloses a turkey tail fan moved back and forth from a prone unfanned position to an upright and fanned position by pulling on a line. U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,902 discloses a decoy mounted on a track, the decoy being moved back and forth on the track by pulling on a line, the decoy being bobbed by pulling on a second line. U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,558 discloses a turkey decoy mounted on a trackway, the decoy moved back and forth on the track by pulling on a line. It would be an important advance in the art of turkey hunting decoys if a turkey decoy were discovered that more realistically mimicked the motions of a live turkey.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a turkey decoy system includes first and second elastic strips fastened together. A turkey tail fan extends at least partially between the first and second elastic strips. The decoy system enables movement of the turkey tail fan between a lowered, unfanned position and a raised, fanned position.

According to a second aspect of the disclosure, a turkey decoy includes a tail assembly support member, and a tail assembly including a plate, a first elastic strip, a second elastic strip, and a turkey tail fan. The plate is pivotably mounted with respect to the support member. The first elastic strip is connected to the plate. The second elastic strip is fastened to the first elastic strip. The turkey tail fan extends at least partially between the first and second elastic strips.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the instant invention including a control bar assembly comprising reel onto which right and left control lines are reeled;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 wherein the control bar has been detached from the run way and wherein the tail of the decoy has been moved from a lowered position to a raised and fanned position by the pair of control lines, wherein the fanned tail of the decoy is oscillated by the control lines, wherein the decoy is moved forward and backward by the pair of control lines, and wherein the decoy is oscillated by the control lines;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 with the body of the decoy removed;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the tail assembly of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of the tail assembly support hook of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the control bar assembly of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 8 is a view of the front panel of the tail assembly of FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 9 is a view of the rear panel of the tail assembly of FIG. 4 also showing elastic strips stapled together and attached to the rear panel by a snap fastener;

FIG. 10 depicts a pleated fabric tail fan attached to the elastic strips of FIG. 9 ;

FIG. 11 depicts turkey tail feathers attached to elastic strips like the elastic strips of FIG. 9 but wherein more staples have been used; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a cover for the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 .

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1 , therein is shown a perspective view of a preferred embodiment 10 of the instant invention including a control bar assembly comprised of control bar 17, control bar standard 18 and reel 16 onto which right 20 and left 21 control lines are reeled. Embodiment 10 includes run way assembly 11, slide assembly 12, decoy body 13, tail assembly 14, pleated fabric tail 15, and control bar standard socket 19. Referring now to FIG. 7 , therein is shown details of the control bar assembly including standard 18, left arm 17 b, right arm 17 a, and reel 16. Right control line 20 is directed through right arm 17 a onto reel 16. Left control line 21 is directed trough left arm 17 b onto reel 16. Reel 16 is attached to standard 18 by reel axel 16 a. Referring now to FIG. 2 , therein is shown a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 wherein the control bar 17 has been detached from the run way and wherein the tail 15 of the decoy is moved from a lowered position to a raised and fanned position by movement the pair of control lines 20 and 21, wherein the fanned tail of the decoy is oscillated by movement of the control lines 20 and 21, wherein the decoy is moved forward and backward by the pair of control lines 20 and 21, and wherein the decoy is oscillated by movement the control lines 20 and 21, all in the manner depicted. It will be noted that slide assembly 12 is connected to the rear of the run way assembly 11 by an elastic band 22. Referring now to FIG. 3 , therein is shown a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 with the body 13 of the decoy removed to better show decoy mount standard 27, decoy mount lower right arm 23, decoy mount lower left arm 24, decoy upper right arm 25, decoy upper left arm 26, decoy mount 27, and tail assembly support 28. It should be understood that the use of decoy body 13 and the slide assembly 12 are not critical in the instant invention.

Referring now to FIG. 8 , therein is shown a drawing of the front panel 14 a of the tail assembly 14. Front panel 14 a comprises large aperture 36, wire 32 attached to the rear of panel 14 a by metal rivets 33, small apertures 34 and metal eyelets 29, 30 and 31. Referring now to FIG. 9 , therein is shown a drawing of the rear panel 14 b of the tail assembly 14. Rear panel 14 b comprises large aperture 37, small apertures 38 and intermediate sized aperture 40. Rear panel 14 b also comprises rear elastic strip 43 front elastic strip 42, staples 44 fastening rear elastic strip 43 to front elastic strip 42, rear elastic strip 43 attached to panel 14 b by snap fastener 45. Referring now to FIG. 10 , therein is shown the plastic strip end of pleated fabric tail 15 (the tail salvaged from a PRIMOS CHICKEN ON A STICK decoy) stapled between elastic strips 42 and 43 by staples 44. Referring now to FIG. 11 , therein is shown the quills 47 of turkey feathers 46 inserted into the pockets formed by staples 44 fastening rear elastic strips 42 and 43. Tail assembly 14 is formed by fastening front panel 14 a to rear panel 14 b by eyelet 29 (eyelet 29 engages with aperture 40 of rear panel 14 b) and, in the case of a pleated fabric tail, a tie 51 (see FIG. 4 ) through a pair of apertures 34 and 38, and in the case of turkey tail feathers a pair of ties through all four of apertures 34 and 38. Referring now to FIG. 4 , therein is shown pleated fabric tail 15 in the fan position by tension of control lines 20 and 21 directed through eyelet 29, eyelets 30 and 31 to tail 15. The tension of control lines 20 and 21 causes tail 15 to fan by bending elastic strips 42 and 43 around snap fastener 45. Hook 28 a, aperture 36 and wire 36 permit the tail assembly to pivot from an unfanned lowered positon to an upright fanned position and permit the fanned tail fan to oscillate to either side of the decoy body depending on the pulling action of the control lines. It should be understood that the specific tail assembly shown is not critical in the instant invention and that, for example, the hook 28 a, the aperture 36 and the wire 36 can be replaced with a ball and socket joint in the instant invention. Similarly, elastic strip 42 can be replaced with a coil spring or the like and that elastic band 22 can be replaced with a coil spring or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , therein is shown a detailed view of a portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 including tail assembly support 28. Referring now to FIG. 6 , therein is shown a detailed view of tail assembly support hook 28 a of tail assembly support 28 attached to tail assembly support 28 by fasteners 28 b. Referring again to FIG. 5 , wire 32 of front panel 14 a of tail assembly 14 is positioned in support hook 28 a as depicted by the dotted line of FIG. 5 . Control lines 20 and 21 are directed through lower arms 23 and 24 and upper arms 25 and 26 as shown, and then to tail assembly 14 as detailed in FIG. 4 .

Referring again to FIG. 3 , when the control lines 20 and 21 are moved away from the runway 11, then the tail assembly 14 and tail 15 are moved from the position shown by dotted lines to the position shown with the tail fanned. The fanned tail of the decoy can be oscillated to one side of the decoy or to the other side of the decoy and the decoy can be oscillated on the decoy mount 27 by oscillation of the control bar. The decoy can be moved forward and backward by moving the control bar backwards and forwards. The decoy can be positioned remotely from the control bar by unreeling control lines 20 and 21 from reel 16. The movement of the decoy back and forth, the oscillations of the decoy and fan and the display of fan can be so finely controlled and controllable by the control bar movement that both male and female turkeys are completely mesmerized and approach the decoy in a manner as if the decoy were a live turkey.

The components of the instant invention can be made of any suitable material but the run way 11, control bar assembly, slide assembly 12 and decoy mount of the embodiment 10 of FIG. 1 preferably are comprised of PVC pipe and PVC pipe fittings. The front panel of the tail assembly is preferably made of sheet metal. The rear panel of the tail assembly is preferably made from sheet PVC material. Pleated turkey tail fans are available as a component of commercially available turkey decoys such as the PRIMOS CHICKEN ON A STICK decoy. Fishing line is preferred for the control lines. A fishing line reel is preferred for the control line reel. A commercially available turkey decoy body is preferred for the turkey body of the instant invention. Turkey tail feathers can be used in the instant invention as depicted in FIG. 11 in which case the smaller feathers of a turkey tail are preferably attached to the tail assembly. Referring now to FIG. 12 , a cover 48 is preferably positioned over run way 11 of the embodiment 10 shown in FIG. 1 . Aperture 49 is provided for the passage of control bar assembly standard 18. Slot 50 is provided for the passage of decoy mount 27. Cover 48 is preferably camouflaged.

Thus, a turkey tail assembly includes a turkey tail fan and a turkey tail fanning mechanism suitably adapted to move the turkey tail fan such that the turkey tail fan is movable between an upright fanned state biased by a tail elastic member of the turkey tail assembly and a lowered unfanned state by the relaxation of the tail elastic member of the turkey tail assembly.

A first control line 20 is attached to the turkey tail assembly 14. A second control line 21 is attached to the turkey tail assembly 14 so that when the first and second control lines are each pulled an equal length, the turkey tail fan is positioned in an upright fanned state biased by the tail elastic member and when the first and second control lines are then pulled an unequal length in relation to each other with the fanned state remaining biased by the tail elastic member, the fanned tail assembly oscillates to one side or the other side of the standard on the tail support member in response to the unequal length pulling of the control lines and so that when the first and second control lines are each released an equal length the turkey tail fan is positioned in the lowered unfanned state biased by the relaxation of the tail elastic member.

While the instant invention has been described above according to its preferred embodiments, it can be modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the instant invention using the general principles disclosed herein. Further, the instant application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A turkey tail assembly comprising: first and second elastic strips fastened together; and a turkey tail fan being movable between a fanned state and an unfanned state; said turkey tail fan extending at least partially between the first and second elastic strips such that, when the turkey tail fan is in the fanned state, the first and second elastic strips bias the turkey tail fan toward the unfanned state, and relaxation of the first and second elastic strips moves the turkey tail fan to the unfanned state.
 2. The turkey tail assembly of claim 1, wherein the turkey tail fan is comprised of turkey tail feathers; wherein each of the feathers has a respective quill; and wherein each of the quills extends between, and contacts each of, the two elastic strips.
 3. The turkey tail assembly of claim 2, further comprising a plurality of staples fastening the two elastic strips together; and wherein each of the quills extends between a respective two of the staples.
 4. The turkey tail assembly of claim 1, wherein the turkey tail fan includes a pleated fabric tail.
 5. The turkey tail assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one plate, said first and second elastic strips being mounted to said at least one plate.
 6. A turkey decoy comprising: a tail assembly support member; a tail assembly including a plate, a first elastic strip, a second elastic strip, and a turkey tail fan; said turkey tail fan being movable between a fanned state and an unfanned state; said plate being pivotably mounted with respect to the support member; said first elastic strip being connected to the plate; said second elastic strip being fastened to the first elastic strip; and said turkey tail fan extending at least partially between the first and second elastic strips such that, when the turkey tail fan is in the fanned state, the first and second elastic strips bias the turkey tail fan toward the unfanned state, and relaxation of the first and second elastic strips moves the turkey tail fan to the unfanned state.
 7. The turkey decoy of claim 6, further comprising at least one control line mounted to the plate; and wherein the tail assembly and the control line are configured such that the tail assembly pivots relative to the tail assembly support member from an unfanned lowered position to an upright fanned position when said at least one control line is pulled.
 8. The turkey decoy of claim 7, wherein said at least one control line includes a first control line and a second control line; and wherein the turkey decoy is configured such that when the first and second control lines are each pulled an equal length, the turkey tail fan is positioned in an upright fanned state and when the first and second control lines are then pulled an unequal length in relation to each other, the fanned tail assembly oscillates to one side or the other side of the tail support member in response to the unequal length pulling of the control lines. 